Steam-boiler control.



C. H. RIDDERSTEDT.

STEAM BOILER CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1. 1911.

1 1 3%, 1 59, Patented Apr 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FJQ/U Y 4! Ch-awel Q SW C. H. RIDDERSTEDT.

STEAM BOILER CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1911.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

WITNESSES.-

CHARLES H. RIDDERSTEDT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-BOILER CONTROL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application filed September 1, 1911. Serial No. 647,155.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. RIDDER- STEDT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Steam-Boiler Control, of

p which the following is a specification.

The principal object of the present invention is to efi'ect a fuel economy in the operation of boilers used for the generation of steam and to improve the results attained in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the automatic regulation of the draft or air supply in response to the velocity of the steam eduction.

Another object of the invention is to automatically regulate the air supply in conformity with the quantity of air required for the consumption of fuel under economic conditions, having regard to the quantity of steam consumed.

The invention will be claimed at the end hereof, but will be first described in connection with the embodiment chosen among many possible embodiments of it for the sake of illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a side view, partly in section, illustrating apparatus embodying features of the invention, Fig. 2, is a view illustrating, partly in section and partly in'diagram, details of construction, and Figs. 3 and 4, are detail views illustrating the invention-in application to induced and forced air supply, respectively.

In the drawings 1, is the off-take for the products of combustion from one or more boilers 2, and it is provided with a damper or draft regulator 3. The damper 3 is a means for regulating the supply of air, but the invention is not confined to such means. 4, is the steam ofi'-take or header from the boiler or boilers 2. There is in the steam off-take 4, a device which is responsive to the velocity of steam in that off-take, and this device cooperates with means which regulate the air supply. An example of a de- "V168 responsive to steam velocity selected from many such devices will now be described.

6, is a disk carried by arod 7 endwise movable through a spider 8 and through a gland or stufling box 9 within the limits of its stops 7*. An ajutage 5 may be interposed in the steam pipe 4 to obtain the velocity therein required for operating the disk. There are provisions for counteracting the effect of the steam velocity so that on a decreasing steam velocity the disk will return to a given position. I have shown attached to this rod a cord 10 wound around a drum 11 and terminating in a counterweight 12. Evidently the effect of a change in velocity of steam is to shift the rod more or less endwise in opposition to the counterweight 12.

13, is a braking device, or speed regulator, the purpose of which is to make the movement of the rod proportional throughout a range of changes of velocity of steam. The braking device chosen for illustration comprises a piston 14 attached to a rod 7 and working in a cylinder 15. The cylinder is provided with an adjustable vent 16, and with relief valves 17, 1S and 19, set to op-- pose increasing resistance to the travel of the piston, so that as the piston is pushedinto the cylinder, air escapes from behind 1t at gradually increasing pressure leaving a supply of air under pressure at the end of the stroke available for assisting the counterweight at the beginning of the return stroke.

20 and 21 are respectively a collecting disk and a commutator. The shaft of the drum carries a brush arm fitted with a brush 22 which spans and electrically brldges the segments of the commutator and the conducting disk. There is a motor 23 which drives a governor 24, the movable element 25 of which is connected with the actuating arm 26 of the damper 3, so that as shown in the drawings, when the speed of the motor 1ncreases the damper is opened and when the speed of the motor decreases the damper is closed by the action of the governor spring 27 and when the speed of the motor is constant there is'no movement of the damper. In the field circuit of the motor there is interposed a rheostat 28 and as more or less resistance of the rheostat is included in or excluded from the field circuit, the speed of the motor is changed and consequentlythe position of the damper is changed. The various contact points ofthe rheostat are connected by conductors with the various segments of the commutator 21, so that as the rod 7 moves in response to changing velocity, the brush is shifted and more-or less resistance of the rheostat is interposed in the field circuit, and the speed of the motor and consequently the air supply is automatically adjusted and the air supply for attaining the desired results is attained by properly proportioning, designing and calibrating the parts.

The hand arm a of the rheostat may be connected by a conductor 2, to the lead 32 and by positioning the arm (1 it is possible to limit the resistance that may be cut in or out by the commutator and this is done by short-circuiting through the arm the resistance above such limit. As shown the circuit for the contacts in advance of the arm, a. 6. above 47, is by 35, part of resistance, arm a and conductor a to 32; for contacts between the arm and 35 the path is by way of 35, resistance, 33, commutator, brush 22, ring 20 and lead 32.

The circuits may be traced as from 30 through the armature of the motor 23 to the conductor 31 and from 30 by 32 to the conducting disk 20 and thence according to the position of the brush 22 through a segment of the commutator 21 and thence from that segment by a separate wire shown as inclosed in a cable 33 to a point on the rheostat and from that point, which we may assume to be the point 34, through the resistance of the rheostat to the conductor 35 and thence through the field 36 by the conductor 37 to the conductor 31. While I have referred to a point 34 on the rheostat, it will be understood that any of the points on the rheostat may be considered as receiving current according to the position of the brush 22 in respect to the segments of the commutator 21.

In use the position of the device which is responsive to the velocity of steam will depend on the velocity of the steam as it leaves the boiler or boilers, and the air supply is regulated in such a way that the required quantity of steam is generated and the appropriate quantity of air is admitted, so that of necessity the firemen or stokers must at all times in order to keep up steam supply the appropriate quantity of fuel and give El e necessary attention to the stoking of res.

In Fig. 3, the motor 21"? operates an exhaust fan 50, creating an induced draft, and

2. The combination of a furnace, a boiler,

an air regulator for the furnace, a steam eduction connection, a dev1ce responsive to the velocity of steam flowing through theeduction connection and adapted to automatically operate the regulator, and a brake mechanism for controlling the operation of,

said device, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a furnace, a steam boiler having'an eduction connection, an air regulator-for regulating the furnace air supply for combustion, a motor and connections for operating the air regulator, an ajutage in the eduction connection, and a counterbalanced disk cooperating'with the ajutage and provided with connections for controlling the motor, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a furnace, a steam boiler having an eduction connection, an air regulator for regulating the furnace air supply for combustion, a motor and connections for operating the air regulator, an ajutage in the eduction connection, a counter-balanced disk cooperating with the ajutage and provided with connections for controlling the motor, and a brake device for the disk, substantially as described.

-5. The combination of a steam boiler having an eduction connection, a furnace, an air regulator for regulating the air supply to the furnace for combustion, a motor and connections for operating the air regulator, a counter-balanced disk in the eduction connection, and means between the disk and motor .for controlling the latter, substantially as described.

6. In combination an air regulator, a steam eduction pipe, a motor provided with a centrifugal governor, connections between the governor and air regulator for positioning the same for different speeds of the motor, an endwise movable rod provided with a 4 7. The combination of a boiler, a steam eduction connection from the boiler, a device operatively arranged in the eduction connection and responsive to the velocity of steam flowing through said connection, an air supply regulator for the boiler, and a centrifugal governor the speed of which is responsive to said device and which is operatively connected to said regulator, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of CHARLES H. RIDDERSTEDT. Vitnesses:

JAMES B. KING, JOSEPH ENTwIsLn 

